Education happens to us all the time, every day

Dec. 31, 2012

ROBERT L. BRADLEY

Written by

[ EDITOR ]

It’s been more than 30 years since I attended Lindley Junior High School in Greensboro, N.C. Lindley is long gone, though the structure still exists, repurposed as offices. Although I only attended Lindley for one year, and only won one award — in math — for my academic efforts, I learned a lot during my time at that old school.

I went to Lindley in the seventh grade after my family moved from New Jersey to Greensboro. Things were a lot different in Greensboro than they were in New Jersey. As a kid, I took a simplistic view of these differences. Patty sausage? Breakfast biscuits? Grits?

Prior to our move, I never had heard of Greensboro. I didn’t understand that school integration was only a relatively recent occurrence there and, early on, had no real knowledge of the significance of the lunch counter in the Woolworth’s downtown. That all changed on Nov. 3, 1979, when the Greensboro Massacre left five protest marchers dead, victims of an attack by the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party.

Prior to moving to Greensboro, I thought the Klan and the Nazis were something to be read about in history books.

Now, I knew better.

Greensboro was where I saw my first rock concert — it was KISS — and because my mom worked for a radio station, also got to see many other concerts, including the Commodores and Heart.

I also remember hanging out at the radio station where she worked, which at the time was in a run-down, odd little building in the middle of a field near Interstate 85. They called the FM on-air studio “The Penthouse” because it was on the second floor and had glass windows all around it. The FM station played rock; the AM station downstairs played gospel. Dave Compton, one of the announcers at the AM station, never seemed irritated at the myriad of questions about radio that I came up with. Dave was probably 20 or so at the time — I was 13 — and he was always happy to let me hang out with him. Dave let me help him take transmitter readings and taught me how to use one of the control boards to dub records to tape.

I learned a lot hanging out at that radio station.

Learning is a continuous process. It happens all the time to all of us, which is why I believe it is so important to expose children to different, real-life experiences.

There’s no doubt in my mind, however, that classroom education is important. A good teacher can make a world of difference in a child’s life. That’s why Upstate Parent is honoring 10 Upstate educators who are making a difference. This is the first time we’ve done this, but it won’t be our last. To find out about these fine educators, turn to Page 11.